Expansible lunch-box



UNITE STATES PATENT OFFIC JOHN SILVESTER MCGUIRE, OF BAYONNE, NEW' JERSEY.

EXPANSIBLE LUNCH-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,498, dated-December 27, 1887.

Application filed May 4, 1887. Serial No. 237,079. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN SILvEsrER Mo- GUIRE, of Bayonne, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Expansible Lunch-Box, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myinvention has reference to the construction of that class of lunch-boxes which can be expanded to' give increasedroom for the contents and contracted when not so used,and has for its object to provide new and useful improvements therein, whereby they are rendered simpler, stronger, and more convenient in use.

To this end the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had'to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side view of a lunchbox e1nbodyiug my improvements and contracted. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same with the cover partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a longi-- tudinal sectional view of the lunch-box eX- panded. Fig. a is a sectional perspective View of a corner of one of the telescopic sections of which the box is composed,illustrating a modification.

The body of the box is composed of box-like sections A, B, O, and D of successively diminishing size and sliding telescopically one in another.

The lower section of the box shown is the largest, and has soldered or otherwise secured thereto a bottom, E, which also forms the bottom of the box,and in each end of the interior of the said lower section is secured a stop, F, consisting of a metal strip bent transversely at a right angle and soldered at the bottom and ends of the section, as shown in section in Fig. 3. The next succeeding section, B, is adapted to strike the stops F, and is thus held from contact withthe bottom E.

The movement of each section in the succeeding section is limited in one direction by flanges G, projecting inward from the upper side and end edgesof one coming in contact with correspondiugly-arranged flanges H,projecting outward from the lower edges of the other. These flanges may be bent at right angles, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, or back at an acute angle, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The relative movements of the sections in the opposite direction are limited by triangular stop-pieces ,K, soldered or otherwise secured to each lower corner of all the sections except the top and bottom sections, as best shown in Fig. 3.

The upper box-like section, D, is provided with a cover, L, having a bordering flange, M, projecting downward from its under side a short distance from the outer edges and adapted to fit within the said upper section,D.

To either end of the interior of the upper section, D, are soldered or secured the lower ends of metallic loops N, which are adapted to pass upward through slots 0, formed in the ends of the cover L, between the edge and flange M thereof, as shown.

Eyeletted fastening straps P are properly secured on top of the cover L at either end, and are passed through the projecting ends of the loops N, and thence downward at the ends to the buckles R, attached to the ends of the bottom section, A. r

The lunch-box can thus be expanded to any desired extent and heldin such position by the adjustable straps P, which also hold the cover in place.

A handle, Q, is attached centrally to the cover L, for convenience in carrying.

In some cases I may make the upper section the largest, in which case the arrangement of parts is substantially reversed. The box may further be made of wood or metal, as preferred.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an expansible lunch-box, the combination,with the telescopi call y-sliding box-like sections and the cover on the upper section,of adjustable straps and buckles for connecting the cover with the lower section, substantially as shown and described.

2. In an expansible lunch-box, the combination,with the telescopically-sliding box-like sections and the cover having slots near its edge, of loops secured to the upper section and passed through said slots, and straps running from the top of the cover through the projecting ends of the loops and down to the 5 lower section, substantially as shown and de scribed.

3. The combination, with the telescopic'ally sliding box-like sections, of flanges projecting inward from one edge of one section engaging flanges projecting outward from the opposite :0 edge of the succeeding section, and triangular stop-pieces secured to the corners of each section at one edge only, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN SILVESTER MCGUIRE. \Vitnesses:

J OHN H. RYAN, PHILIP OCONNOR. 

